Timing mechanism



J. A. coT'r TIMING mmumrsu Filed Feb ou. 27,1925l 5 Sheets-Shed'.l 2

Oct. 27 1925- 1,559,186

J. A. SCOTT TIMING MECHANISI Filed Feb. 2o. 1924 s sheets-sunt s Patented oa. 27, 1925.

1,559,186 UNITED STATES*PATENT oFFicE.

JOHN A. SCOTT, F DEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 THE SENTINEL MFG. CO., 0F NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

TIMING MECHANISM.

Application led February 20, 1924. Serial No'. 698,991.

To 11N uf/1.0m. il.' may conve/vt! Be it known that I, JOHN A. Sco'rr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dedham, in the county of Norfolk and State yof Massachusetts, have ,invented a newand useful Improvement in Timing Mechanisms; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the characters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawingsconstitute part of this application, and represent, in-

Fig. 1, a view in front elevation of one form which a timing mechanism, embodying my invention, may assume with the parts thereof in the position due to them prior to setting it. y

Fig. 2 an edge View thereof.

Fig. 3 a view corresponding to Fig. 1, but with its several parts in the positions due to them when the mechanism is set for automatically shutting oli' the gas, after the lapse of a predetermined interval.

Fig. 4 a corresponding view with the parts as set for the turning on of the gas, after the lapse of a Ipredetermined interval.

Fig. 5 a detached, perspective View of the operating-shaft with its gas-control cam constituting the ultimate operator of the mechanism.

Fig. 6 a. corresponding view ofthe oscillating-sleeve, with its spring, 'which is broken away. y

Fig. 7 a detached, perspective view of the upper end of the operating-lever or manual.

Fig 8 a detached, perspective view of the buffer, with its buffer-detent lever. A

Fig'. 9 a. detached, perspective view of the valve-detent lever, the buffer-kick-o", and the link uniting them.

Fig. 10 a detached, perspective viewof the brake employed for stopping the timemovement..

My invention relates to an improved timing mechanism primarily designed for the fuel-control of cook-stoves, though available for use in a variety of situations where it is desired to effect an operation after the. lapse of a predetermined time, the object of my present invention being to produce a compact and reliable timing mechanism of the character described, constructed with particular reference to giving the operator the option between two movements, such as,

, ed upon in the case of the use of the mechanism in conjunction with a cook-stove, shutting oil' the 'gas automatically, after the lapse of a predetermined time, or automatically turning the gas on, after the lapse of a predetermined time.

With these ends in view. my invention arbor and comprisinga washer 21, a helicall spring 22, and an adjust-ing nut 23 mounta threaded section 24 of the arbor. The friction mechanism just described is designed to permit the reverse movement of the winding-arbor, and corresponds in general construction and function to the friction mechanism. forming the subjectf matter of United States Patent No.

' 1,150,514, dated August 17, 1915, on the application of Joseph W. Gibney. The mainwheel 17 is connected by a train of the usual intermediate wheels and pinions, not shown, with -a balance-wheel 25 on a balance-staff 26.

The projecting forward end of the main or winding-arbor 2O mounts a setting-lever 27 provided at. its respective ends with linger-buttons 28 and formed at one end with a pointer 29 sweeping over the graduations of a dial 30 fastened to the front caseplate 11 by shortstuds 31. A stop-pin 32, located at the zero point in the graduations on the dial 30, limlts the movement of the said setting-lever 27. to slightly less than one complete revolution.

The winding-arbor 20 carries a trippingcam 33,' located between the front case-plate 11 and an intermediate, auxiliary plate 34, located directly in front of the front movement-plate 13, as shown in Fig. 2. The said cam 33 coacts with an anti-friction roller 35 mounted in the lower end of a valve-detent lever 36, rocking upon a. pin 37sin the auxen av'inr labutments.

iliary'plate 34, and formed at its upper end with a hook 38 engaging-.with one or the other of two teeth 39 and 40, formed in a flange 41 at the forward end of a sleeve 42 having limited oscillating movement upon the operating-shaft 43 of the mcchanism,the said teeth functioning in. effect as detent- Of these twov teeth 39 and 40, the former is located. further from the axis of the said shaft 43 than the latter, so that, when the hook 38 of the valVe-detent lever 36 is disengaged from the tooth 40, it will catch the tooth 39, as will be ,hereinafter described. The said shaft, which is journaled in the upper portions of the plates 11 and 11a, projects through the frame for the non-rotatable application to it of an operating-lever 4-4, lo-

cated in front of the case-plate 11, provided at its lower end with a knob 45, and constituting the manual by which the setting of the mechanislmby the setting-lever 27 ,is made eective.

The projecting rear end of the operatingshaft 43 carries a gas-control cam 46, thenose 47 of which coacts with the rounded head 48 of a valve-stem 49 of a gas-control Valve 50 (not shown in detail) in a gas-supply pipe 51. The said cam 46 constitutes, as it were, the vultimate operator of the mechanism in the broad view of my invention, and will be so referred to in the claims appended hereto.

The operating-sleeve 42 carries a spiralV spring 52, the opposite end of which is fastened to the upper left-hand pillar 12 and which exerts a constant effort to turn the sleeve counter-clockwise.

The said sleeve 42 ,is coupled with the shaft 43 by means of a square pin 53, normally held in engagement with a shoulder 54 at the right-hand end of a transverse cut at the rear end of the sleeve by the spring 52, so that, when the manual or operatinglever 44 is swung clockwise, the sleeve 42 is turned by and with the shaft 43, whereby the said spring is energized and one or the other of the teeth 39 and 40,-at the forward end ofthe sleeve, brought into position to be engaged by the hook 38 of the valve-detent lever 36.

Then the hook 38 of the lever 36 is disengaged from one or thev other of the teeth 39 and 40 by the action of the tripping-cam,

y the sleeve 42, shaft 43 and lever 44 are released to the powerA of the spring 52, which oscillates the sleeve and shaft and snaps the lever, as it were, from left to right or counter-clockwise. Now, to check the lever when so snapped, either in its intermediate or lowermost position, as the case may be, and neutralize the shock upon the immediatelyrelated parts of the mechanism, I employ a. buffer 55, consisting of a piece of rubber or` equivalentmaterial, located in a buffer-case For swinging the The hook 59 is engaged with the pillar 12 as aforesaid, against the tension of -a long flat spring 60, which tends to maintain them 1n engagement. For liftlng the detent 58 into position for engaging its hook 59 withV the part 12al of the' pillar 12, the detent is furnished with an cooking-pin 61, the underface of which is' engaged by a lifting-pin 62 in the flange 41 of the operating-sleeve 42.

For unhooking the detent 58 from the pillar 12, so as to permit the buffer to retire into its lowermost position under the pressure of the flat spring 60, I employ a bufferkick-ofl' lever 63, turning on a pivot 64 in the front case-plate 11 and having its lower end pivotally connected with one end of a link 65, the opposite end of which is connected with the valve-detent lever 36 near the lower end thereof. A

For stopping the time-movement, afterit has discharged either one of its releasing functions, I employ a flexible shoe 66, positi-oned to be engaged with the periphery of the balance-wheel 25, and mounted in an arm 67 (Fig. 10), mounted upon the inner end of a rock-shaft 68, journaled in the movement-plates 13 and 14 of the said timemovement, and provided at its forward end with an angular lever -69 having an upstanding-arm 7 0 and also mounting an upstanding spring 71. A hel-ical spring 72, attached at one end to the arm 67 and at its opposite end to the lnovement-plate 14, tends to hold the shoe 66 out of engagement with the balance-wheel 25.

A spring 73, provided for maintaining the hook 38 of the lever 36 in engagen'ient with one or the other of theT teeth 39 anda() of the sleeve 42, also tends to force the antifriction roller 35 in the valve-detent lever 36 into engagement with the trippingcam 33.

As already explained, my improved timing mechanism is constructed with particular reference to giving the user of it the choice between two lz'ictions,-namely. either that of `automatically turning olf the gas, after Athe lapse of a predetermined time, or turning on the gas, after the lapse of af predetermined time. The operation of the apparatus, to effect either one of these two purposes, will be described separately, as

inwardly-projecting In case the housewife desires to have the .gas turned ofi', aft-er the lapse of a predetern'iined-time, she turns the setting-lever 27. to bring its pointer 29 over the graduation on the dial 30, representing the time which she wishes to have elapse before the automatic turning oif of the gas. In setting the lever 27 as described, she has turned the main winding-arbor 20 and so wound the spring 16 and also turned the point ot' the tripping-cam 33 away fromthe ro'ller 35 carried by the valve-detent'lever 36. She now swings the operating-lever or manual 44 by its handle 45 from its normal or lowermost position in which it is shown in Fig. 1, to its intermediate or gas-on position, in which it is shown in Fig. 3,-whereby the shaft 43 is turned clockwise and hence the ultimate operator or gas-control cam 46, the nose 47 of which operates the valve-stem 49 to turn on the gas. At the saine time, the square pin 53 in the shaft 43, acting against the shoulder 54, turns the sleeve 42 wit-h the Said shaft 43, whereby the tooth 39 in the flange 41 of the sleeve, is brought into position to be. engaged by the hook 38 of the valve-detent lever 36, in which position itis now held by the spring 73. This turning of the lever 43 has also energized the spring 52. yAlso the pin 62 has moved away from the arm of the lever 69, permitting the spring 72 to draw the shoe 66 away fromthe peripheryof the balance-wheel 25, thus a-llowing the time-movement to start and run.

The time-movement nowv slowly turns the main-arbor 2O clockwise, whereby the point of the tripping-cam33 is brought into engagement with the roller 35 with the effect of rocking the lever 36 against the tension of its spring 73 and so as toy disengage its hook 38 from. the tooth 39 of the flange'41 of the sleeve 42, thus releasing the said sleeve to the action of its spring 52, by which the said sleeve is now turned counter-clockwise together with the shaft 43 andthe lever 44. the snappy downward movement of which is checked by the buffer 55, which is now in its lowermost position. as shown in Fig. 1-. This partial, counter-clmkwise rotation of the operating-shaft. 33 swings the nose 47 of the cam 46 out of engagement vwith the head 48 of the valve-stem 49, re-

leasing the same to the actionof the valvespring 74.V The gas is thus automatically shut of.- At this time also gages with the arm 70 of the lever 69 and swings the same against the power of .the spring 72 andso applies the brake-shoe 66 to the balance-wheel 25 and stops the running of the time-movement.

On the other hand, if the housewife elects to have the gas turned on automatically after the lapseof a predetermined interval,

the pin 62 en-v -Which the buffer she turns the setting-lever 27 clockwise as before, and with the effect already described. She now grasps the knob 45 of the lever 44 vas before, and swings the lever clockwise into its uppermost or gas-oit' position, as shown ,in Fig. 4, whereby the tooth 4() of the flange 41 of the sleeve 42 is brought into position to be engaged by the hook 38 of the valve-detent lever 36. During the latter portion. of this upward movement ot' the lever 44, the lifting-pin 62 in the fiange 41 engages with the lower face of the cookingpin 61 in the buffer-detent lever 58, and lifts the same, whereby the buffer is'swung into its upper position, as shown in Fig. 4, and also whereby theL detent 58 is hooked over the part 12a of the upper left-hand pillar 12. In this longer upward sweep of the lever 44, the nose 47 of the cam 46 has momentarily opened the gas-valve 50, and then passed the same, so as to permit it to be re-closed by its spring 74. This swinging movement of the lever 44 has again started the time-movement, which, as before, slowly turns the arbor20 and cam 33 counter-clockwise until the nose of the lat-ter engages with the roller 35 in the valve-detent lever 36 and causes the hook 38 thereof to be disengaged against the tension of the spring 73 from the tooth 40 in the flange 41 of the sleeve 42. The spring 52 now acts to reversely turn theoperatingsleeve 42, the high tooth engaged with the hook 38, so as to check such turning of the sleeve, while the shaft 43 and lever 44 are checked by the buffer 55, now held in its advanced or uppermost position. This movement of the shaft'43 and cam 46 effects the turning on of the gas and the stoppage of the time-train, the latter by the engagement of the pin 62l with the spring-arm l of the lever 69, the pin 62 11a-ving been snapped over the arm 71 during the latter portionl of the turning of the sleeve 42, inthe movement. of the lever 44 til the housewife turns the setting-lever 27 for the short distance required to bring it. into'its zero position, when the point of thc cam will further rock the lever 36 with the effect, first offall, of swinging the bufferkick-olf 63 against the edge of the bufferdetent lever 58, so as to disengage its hook 59 from theupper left-hand pillar 12, after will immediately retire to its ,lowermost position, under the influence of the flat spring 60. This last action is 'immediately followed by the disengagement of the hook 38 from the tooth 3 9, permitting the spiral spring 52 to snap'the operatinglever or manual 44 into its lowermost position, this being accompanied by'theturning 39 of which will be l los was stopped as of theshaft 43 as required `foi` shutting-off the gas. After the mechanism has been set on either plan, the gas flow may be regulated by swinging the manual withinthe limits imposed by the transverse cut'in the p inner end of the sleeve 42. Y Y

' AThe cam 46 is to be viewed, as the'ultimate operator of my improved timing mechanism in a broad view thereof, since it'may be replaced by' other operating means dependent upon what my improved mechanism. is used moving the same inone direction, yielding means for reversely/movin ,e the same, an

connections between the said elements constructed and arranged to permit `the operator to be manually set 'in an advanbed position or in an intermediate Ypositionwith respect to its normal position, and to be autojnatically .moved after a: predetermined i of, setting thedevicef i ,40"5 2..In a timing mechanism, the cbmbinah of time from its advanced position to its' intermediate position, o'rfrom its intermediate toits normal position, whereby the said mechanism may be utilized for automatically effecting eitherof two movements predetermined-,by the operator at the utime tion with atime-movement, f setting means therefor, anultimate operator, a' manual for V.moving the same in one directiomyielding means for reversely moving the same, a detent for restraining the said yielding eans for holding the 'said operator 1n ,an adva ced position, or in an interm iate position with respect to itsf normal position a-.tifipping mechanism driven vfby the v.said time-movement for .operating the saiddetent to release thevsaid ylelding means from its` advanced positionto itsintermediate position, or'from ,its intermediate position 'to its 4normal posi- "tlon,y .whereby the said mechanism may utilized for automatically effecting either of twomovements predetermined b the operator atgthe time ofsetting the evice;

'3. In a timing mechanism, the combina- 'tion with a time-movement, of Isetting means therefor, an ultimate opel-gator, a manual connected therewith, for moving it in one direction, yielding 'means 'connected with the vas operatorA for effecting the vreverse movement thereof, a detent for holding the Said yieldlng means n.1 either oftwo positions, a tripping mechanism driven. by the said. time-t, movement for operating the said detent to release the said yielding means from either o f its two positions, and a buffer adaptedto `be set in either of two positions-for checking the return ,movement of the manual; Y

4. In a timing-mechanism, the combination with a time-movement, of setting means therefor, an ultimate operator, a 'manual connected therewith for moving it in one direction, yielding' means connected .with the operator for .effecting the reverse movement thereof, a detent for holding 'the said yielding means in either of two positions, 'a tripping mechanism driven by the said tnemovement forI operating the said detent to release the said yielding means from either -of its two positlons, and a movable buffer adapted to be set in ,either one of two positions for checking' the movement of the manual' when moved, by the saidl yieldin means, #the said buffer being connected wit the manual for being set thereby, and with he time-movement for beingrreleased theretion with atime-movement, of setting means therefor, an ultimate operator, a manual connected therewith for moving it in one directiomyielding means connected with the operator for effecting the reverse movement thereof, a detent forgholding the said yielding means in-either lof two positions, a tripping mechanism driven by the said timerelease the said yieldin means from' either of its twopositi ons,.a u'ier adapted tol be set `in either of two positions to check the movement of thev 'manual when moved by the said yielding means, and connection between .the saidu detent and gperator to ermit the operator to be adj st without a ecting'the holding actionof he detent.v v

6. In' a timing mechanism, the combina tionwith a time-movement, of setting means therefor .an ultimate operator, a manual c'onnected t erewi'th for .moving it one direction, and having normal, intermediate and advanced. positions, yielding means connected with the said operator for eif'ectin the reverse vmovement thereof, a `detent or hold- In aftiming mechanismfthencombinaing the manual in its intermediate .and1ad-"-- vanced positions, latripping vnii echanism be'r driven by the saidj,time-movement/r*operating the said detent to releasethesaid yielding means frornfeither of its two positions, and permit vit to return the manualfrom its intermediate to its n ormal position and from` its advanced position to its intermediate position, a movablebufer conheled with the manual for being automaticallyadvanced thereby when the manual is swung f from'its intermediate' to its advanced position, a detent for holding the'buifer'in its advanced `position, and, `means connected' mbvement for operating the said detent'to .1001

l wlth the tlme-movement for releasing the means for revcrsely moving the operator,

connections between the said elements constructed and arranged to permit the operator to be manually set in an advanced position or in an intermediate position with respect to its normal position, and to be automatically moved after a predetermined lapse of time from its advanced position to its intermediate position, or from its intermediate position to its normal position, and means for stopping the said time-movement automatically when the operator is moved by the said yielding means from its advanced position to its intermediate position.

8. In a timing mechanism, the combination with a time-movement, ot' setting means therefor, an ultimate operator, a manual for turning the same in one direction and having normal. intermediate and advanced positions, yielding means -connected with the .said operator for, effecting the reverse movement thereof, connections between the said elements constructed and arranged to permit the operator to be set in either ot' two positions and to be automatically moved there-A from after a predetermined lapse of time, and means for automatically stopping the time-movement when the operator moves from its advanced to its intermediate position.

t). In a timing mechanismthe combination with a time-movement, of setting means therefor. an ultimate operator, a shaft by which the same is arried, a manual for turning the said shaft, a sleeve mounted upon the shaft, having limited rotation with respect thereto, and provided with two differentiated detent-engaging abutments, a spring connected with the sleeve for turning the same in the opposite direction from which it is turned 'by the manual, a detent for holding the saidsleeve in either one of two positions against the power of the said spring, and means operated by the timemovement for disengaging the detent from the said abutments 1n the said sleeve.

Vl0. In a timing mechanism, the combination with a time-movement, of setting means therefor, an ultimate operator, a shaft therefor, a manual connected with said shaft for turning the same, a sleeve mounted upon the shaft` and having limited rotation with respect thereto, a spring for turning the sleeve in the opposite direction from-that in which' it is turned by the manual, a detent, means carried by the sleeve for the engagement thereof in two positions by the detent, connection between the said detent and the time-movement for the disengagement of the detent thereby, a butler i-for checking the movement of the manual under the influence of the said spring, a buffer-detent for holding the buffer in its advanced position, and means operated by the time-movement for tripping the buffer-detent to permit it to retire from its advanced position. l

11. In a timing mechanism, the combination with a time-movement, of setting means therefor, an ultimate operator,` a manual i connected therewith for moving it in one direction, yielding means connected with the operator for effecting the reverse movement thereof, a detent for holding the said yielding means in either of two positions, a tripping mechanism driven by the said timemovement for operating the said detent to release the said yielding means from either of its two positions, a buffer adapted to be set in either of two positions to check the movement of the manual when moved by the said yielding means, and connections between the said time-movement, settingmeans, operator and detent` whereby the releasing action of the time-movementl may be manually performed.

Intestimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

JOHN A. SCOTT. 

